Nightmares
by Sis21K
Summary: Every night it was the same. He awoke drenched in sweat and not knowing what was real.


**Hello everyone! Please bear with me not posting as much as usual! Shout-out to HarryPotterLover333 for the prompt, and thanks again to all of you who have stuck with me and keep reviewing. Enjoy!**

Every night it was the same. He awoke drenched in sweat and not knowing what was real.

He tried to sleep inside. He tried to have a good night, he really did.

It was such an effort to swallow his screams.

Jack hid it from them, how scared he was to go to sleep at night. He forced himself to sleep on that rooftop so they wouldn't hear him cry out. They needed a good leader, not a guy who freaked out over stupid dreams.

But a guy can't stay awake forever.

It always started off with something familiar. Selling papes on the corner, going to Jacobi's with the boys, sitting on the rooftop. It went along, with Jack not even realizing it was a dream. Then stuff started to change. Around the corner would come someone he hated, usually larger than life and seething with anger. Or the newsies would suddenly turn on him and pull out sticks and canes and start beating him. Or the rooftop would slowly begin to tilt and Jack would slide right to the edge, screaming desperately as he hung on for dear life.

Tonight it was Snyder. Jack was standing on the Brooklyn Bridge, and then suddenly the monster was behind him. Jack couldn't move, couldn't run. His vision went blurry as he tried to fight back, but it was as if his body didn't work. Snyder pushed him down and tied him up. Then Pulitzer was there—Pulitzer—he shouldn't be scared of Pulitzer—Katherine's dad—they were on decent terms now—but Pulitzer was laughing cruelly. "Does anyone else feel a noose tightening?" his voice echoed. One end of the rope around his neck, the other in Pulitzer's hand. And then Snyder kicked him towards the edge of the bridge and Jack saw the water churning so far below him and he opened his mouth as he fell, clutching at the rope that was choking him, choking him…and he screamed…

Jack felt the cool air on his face as he bolted upright, clutching the twisted sheet like a lifeline. It was only a second before reality hit him like a train and he gasped. Sweat dripped from his forehead. Had he actually screamed? Or was that just in the nightmare? Jack buried his face in the sheet, wiping the sweat away and muffling his jagged breaths. His thoughts were hazy. Why the hell was he in the Lodging House? Why wasn't he sleeping outside? Now he'd probably woken up every newsie with his screams. Why had he fallen asleep? How could he have been so stupid? He always forced himself to stay awake on the rare occasions he had to spend the night inside. Sure, he had always pretended he was asleep, but usually, around midnight when he started nodding off, he headed up to the rooftop.

Rain. The distant wet tapping reminded him. It was a thunderstorm, and Crutchie had read somewhere about a guy getting struck by lightning and made Jack stay inside. Jack had humored him even though he was so tired he could have slept in the rain. He would have been about as cold and wet if he'd fallen in the—

Jack clenched his jaw. Of course, it wasn't bad enough to just dream it. He always ended up re-living his nightmares for a few minutes after waking. It all came back to him. Jack tried to calm himself. It had been a while since he'd dreamt about Pulitzer, he thought casually, though he was shaking. He wondered what had brought that on. Hah, he wondered what Katherine would say if he said he had a nightmare about her father. Probably laugh. Aw, who was he kidding—she'd be worried about him.

A hand on his back made him jump. He'd nearly dozed off again sitting hunched over. "Jack?" someone whispered. Jack thought it was Race. "You alright?"

"Damn." If Race was awake, Jack had most definitely screamed.

There was a thud on the floor. Someone else had hopped out of bed. "What's the matter with Jack?"

"Nothing," Race whispered. "Go back to bed."

"No." Jack felt another hand on his back, smaller this time.

Race snorted but didn't make Romeo go back to bed.

"Jack?"

Jeez, he'd woken the whole Lodging House. Jack wouldn't show his face, but the newsies didn't try to talk to him. They only whispered sleepily as they approached his bunk.

"He musta had a nightmare."

"What kinda nightmare does a fella like Jack have?"

"Yeah, he ain't afraid of anything."

If only they knew. Jack almost laughed, but then just as quickly he felt like crying, and Jack Kelly never cried. He felt newsies piling onto his bed, holding his arms, hugging him, laying hand after hand across his sweaty bare back.

"It don't matter. He's always awake for us, so we gotta be awake for him now."

Jack shook his head, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He just forced himself to go limp and let the newsies hold him. He felt a small hand stroke his hair; someone else laid his head on Jack's leg. Soon they all were still.

Jack felt himself drift off and then jerked awake. The newsies around him shifted quietly. It only happened a few more times before Jack finally fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. As long as his brothers were with him, no nightmares could reach him. At least for one night.

 **As busy as I have been, I'm hoping to start another multi-chapter soon. I was planning to continue Question Time Again, but it seems I lost the next chapter and I don't really feel like re-writing it at the moment. So I'm going to take a break from that and hopefully focus on writing lots of oneshots and/or another multi-chapter. So if you have any ideas or prompts, let me know!**

 **-Sis21K**


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